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The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness was a benefit concert held on Easter Monday, 20 April 1992 at Wembley Stadium in London, England for an audience of 72,000. The concert was produced for television by Ray Burdis, directed by David Mallet and broadcast live on television and radio to 76 countries around the world, with an audience of up to one billion. The concert was a tribute to Queen's lead vocalist, Freddie Mercury, who died of AIDS on 24 November 1991. The show marked bassist John Deacon's final full-length concert with Queen (save a short live appearance with Brian May, Roger Taylor and Elton John in 1997). The profits from the concert were used to launch The Mercury Phoenix Trust, an AIDS charity organisation. History Following Freddie Mercury's death on 24 November 1991 from bronchopneumonia brought on by AIDS, the remaining members of Queen (John Deacon, Brian May and Roger Taylor) came together with their manager Jim Beach to organise a concert to celebrate the life and legacy of Mercury, and to raise money for AIDS research and spread awareness about the disease. In February 1992, at the annual BRIT Awards ceremony, May and Taylor announced plans for the concert. When tickets finally went on sale, all 72,000 tickets sold out in just three hours, even though no performers were announced apart from remaining members of Queen. Concert The concert opened with a message from the three remaining members of Queen in tribute to Mercury.5 The music then commenced with short sets from artists that were influenced by the music of Queen, including Metallica, Extreme (playing a Queen medley), Def Leppard (who brought Brian May onstage for a version of "Now I'm Here"), and Guns N' Roses. Between bands, several video clips honouring Freddie Mercury were shown while roadies changed the stage for the following act's performance. Elizabeth Taylor then gave an AIDS prevention speech, which was followed by a compilation of Mercury's various interactions with audiences. The second half of the concert featured the three remaining Queen members – John Deacon (on bass), Brian May (on guitar) and Roger Taylor (on drums) – along with guest singers and guitarists, including Elton John, Roger Daltrey (of The Who), Tony Iommi (of Black Sabbath), David Bowie, Mick Ronson (of Spiders from Mars), James Hetfield (of Metallica), George Michael, Seal, Paul Young, Annie Lennox, Lisa Stansfield, Robert Plant (of Led Zeppelin), Joe Elliott and Phil Collen (of Def Leppard), Axl Rose and Slash (of Guns N' Roses), Liza Minnelli, and others. Via satellite from Sacramento, California, U2 dedicated a live performance of "Until the End of the World" to Mercury.6 Performances Without Queen # Metallica – "Enter Sandman", "Sad but True", "Nothing Else Matters" # Extreme – Queen Medley, "Love of My Life", "More Than Words" (Gary Cherone & Nuno Bettencourt) # Def Leppard – "Animal", "Let's Get Rocked", "Now I'm Here" (with Brian May) # Bob Geldof – "Too Late God" # Spinal Tap – "The Majesty of Rock" # U2 – "Until the End of the World" – played via satellite from Sacramento, California # Guns N' Roses – "Paradise City", "Only Women Bleed", "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" # Mango Groove – "Special Star" – played via satellite from Johannesburg, South Africa # Elizabeth Taylor – AIDS Prevention Speech # Freddie Mercury – compilation of various interactions with the audience With Queen # Queen + Joe Elliott & Slash – "Tie Your Mother Down" # Queen + Roger Daltrey & Tony Iommi – "Heaven and Hell" (intro), "Pinball Wizard" (intro), "I Want It All" # Queen + Zucchero – "Las Palabras de Amor" # Queen + Gary Cherone & Tony Iommi – "Hammer to Fall" # Queen + James Hetfield & Tony Iommi – "Stone Cold Crazy" # Queen + Robert Plant – "Innuendo" (including parts of "Kashmir"), "Thank You" (intro), "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" # Brian May + Spike Edney – "Too Much Love Will Kill You" # Queen + Paul Young – "Radio Ga Ga" # Queen + Seal – "Who Wants to Live Forever" # Queen + Lisa Stansfield – "I Want to Break Free" # Queen + David Bowie & Annie Lennox – "Under Pressure" # Queen + Ian Hunter, David Bowie, Mick Ronson, Joe Elliott & Phil Collen – "All the Young Dudes" # Queen + David Bowie & Mick Ronson – "Heroes" # David Bowie – "Lord's Prayer" # Queen + George Michael – "'39" # Queen + George Michael & Lisa Stansfield – "These Are the Days of Our Lives" # Queen + George Michael – "Somebody to Love" # Queen + Elton John & Axl Rose – "Bohemian Rhapsody" Using the same light show as The Magic Tour from 1986 for the opera section and vocals played from a tape using the original 1970s’ studio recording featuring Freddie Mercury. # Queen + Elton John & Tony Iommi – "The Show Must Go On" # Queen + Axl Rose – "We Will Rock You" # Queen + Liza Minnelli supported by everyone else who performed at the concert – "We Are the Champions" # Queen – "God Save the Queen" (taped outro) Queen's activity * Freddie Mercury – pre-recorded piano and vocals (on "Bohemian Rhapsody") & compilation of various interactions with the audience during the section before the Queen + section of the concert. * Brian May – electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards (on "Too Much Love Will Kill You" and "Who Wants To Live Forever"), lead vocals on "Tie Your Mother Down" (for verse 1, then co-lead vocals with Roger Taylor on 1st chorus on "Tie Your Mother Down") and "Too Much Love Will Kill You", co-lead vocals (on "I Want It All"), backing vocals * Roger Taylor – drums, tambourine, backing vocals, co-lead vocals on "Tie Your Mother Down" (with Brian May on 1st chorus) and on Under Pressure (as a trio with David Bowie and Annie Lennox on choruses). * John Deacon – basses, additional backing vocals Guest musicians * Elton John – piano on "Bohemian Rhapsody", lead vocals on "Bohemian Rhapsody" (verses only, then co-lead vocals with Axl Rose on final part)and "The Show Must Go On" * Axl Rose – lead vocals on "Bohemian Rhapsody" (on final part, then co-lead vocals with Elton John) and "We Will Rock You" * Slash – electric guitar on "Tie Your Mother Down" (solo and final chords) * Tony Iommi – electric guitar on "Heaven and Hell" (intro), "Pinball Wizard" (intro), "I Want It All", "Hammer to Fall", "Stone Cold Crazy" & The Show Must Go On * Roger Daltrey – lead vocals on "I Want It All" * Gary Cherone – lead vocals on "Hammer to Fall * James Hetfield – lead vocals on "Stone Cold Crazy" * Ian Hunter – electric guitar and lead vocals on "All the Young Dudes" * Mick Ronson – electric guitar on "All the Young Dudes" and "Heroes" * David Bowie - alto saxophone and backing vocals on "All the Young Dudes", lead vocals on "Heroes", co-lead vocals on "Under Pressure" * Annie Lennox – co-lead vocals on "Under Pressure" * Joe Elliott – lead vocals on "Tie Your Mother Down" (except for verse 1 and 1st chorus, due to he enters to stage) backing vocals on "All the Young Dudes" * Phil Collen – backing vocals on "All the Young Dudes" * Zucchero – lead vocals on "Las Palabras de Amor" * Robert Plant – lead vocals on "Innuendo" (including parts of "Kashmir"), "Thank You" (intro) and "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" * Paul Young – lead vocals on "Radio Ga-Ga" * Seal – lead vocals on "Who Wants to Live Forever" * Lisa Stansfield – lead vocals on "I Want to Break Free", co-lead vocals on "These Are the Days of Our Lives" * George Michael – lead vocals "'39" and "Somebody to Love", co-lead vocals on "These Are the Days of Our Lives" * Liza Minnelli – lead vocals on "We Are the Champions" * All guests (including Kirk Hammett, Jason Newsted, Lars Ulrich, Nuno Bettencourt, Pat Badger, Paul Geary, Vivian Campbell, Rick Savage, Rick Allen, Bob Geldof, Gilby Clarke, Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum, Dizzy Reed, Elizabeth Taylor and all members of Spinal Tap) – support on "We Are the Champions" Backing musicians Queen were backed by the following musicians: * Spike Edney – keyboards, piano, backing vocals * Mike Moran – piano on "Who Wants to Live Forever" and "Somebody to Love" * Josh Macrae – percussion in some Queen tracks * Chris Thompson – backing vocals, acoustic guitar on "I Want It All", "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "Heroes", additional percussion * Maggie Ryder – backing vocals * Miriam Stockley – backing vocals * London Community Gospel Choir – backing vocals on "Somebody to Love" and "We Are the Champions" * John Jones – organ and backing vocals on "We Are the Champions" Category:Greatest Moments in Music History Category:1990s Category:Events